Office filing card



Patented Apr. 4, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

My invention relates to ofce filing cards.

It relates more particularly to a card of this character so constructed that the operation of selecting and sorting cards from a pack or stack of filing cards carrying different subjects matter may be more readily, expeditiously, and econcmically performed than by any method now in use.

There are both manual and mechanical methods of selecting similarly designated cards from a pack or stack of office filing cards. However the manual operations are slow and often cumbersome while the mechanical methods now employed are highly complex and the mechanical means is expensive to construct.

An object therefore of this invention is to provide cards capable of use for overcoming disadvantages such as those above referred to.

The novel features which I believe to be characteristic of 'this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to organization and operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a plan View of the front leaf of a card.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the back of this leaf.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the back of a rear leaf of the card which may be provided as a place on which to put any desired data.

Referring to the views of the drawings, the

' numeral 4 designates the front leaf of the card.

This leaf contains an opening 5 as shown in Fig. 1. A plurality of preferably scored tabs 6 are located at the margin of this leaf, these tabs being adapted for carrying any desired designations such as those indicated by the numeral 1.

A thin electrical conducting member 8 which may be thin metal or metal foil is secured to the back of the leaf t, the securing operation being accomplished in any suitable Way as by pasting or gluing. The member 8 is shown as T shape in Fig. 2 merely for the sake of conserving material.

Fig. 3 shows a rear leaf 9 for the card upon which to place any desired data such as indicated at l0. This rear leaf may be included in the card for the purpose of protecting the thin metal circuit and as a matter of convenience since the data could be placed on the leaf 4 if desired. When the leaf 9 is employed, the electrical conducting member 8 would be sandwiched between the two leaves.

The operation and advantages of this invention will be apparent in connection with the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings. .'Ifhe operation is dependent on the cards being so fabricated as to incorporate a thin metal foil or electrical conducting member of which one terminal is permanently exposed through the opening 5 and the other terminal is exposed as the result of the removal of a tab or section of the card in order to complete an electrical circuit. The removable tabs 5 designate the subject matter or data for which any card is to be selected or ejected from a stack of cards. The selection or sorting of the cards is to be accomplished by means of an electro-mechanical device which may form the subject matter for a separate application for patent. It may however be stated that in the operation, two resilient conducting fingers would be depressed upon the card and so located as to contact the exposed portion of the conducting member 3 for completing a circuit for actuating an electrically driven mechanical means.

I claim:

1. An oilice ling card comprising a leaf, a plurality of designating tabs on said leaf, and a thin electrical conductor carried entirely by the rear face of said leaf back of said tabs, each of said tabs corresponding to data placed on the card and each tab being individually removable whereby an electrical circuit may be selectively completed through said conductor.

2. An office filing card comprising a leaf having an opening therein, a plurality of designating tabs along one side of said leaf, and a thin electrical conductor carried entirely by the rear face of said leaf back of said tabs and back of said opening, each of said tabs corresponding to data placed on the card and each tab being individually removable whereby an electrical circuit may be selectively completed through said conductor.

3. An oice filing card comprising a front leaf having an opening therein, a rear leaf, a plurality of designating tabs on said front leaf, and a thin electrical conductor interposed between said leaves, each of said tabs corresponding to data placed on said rear leaf and each tab being individually removable whereby an electrical circuit may be selectively completed through said conductor.

LIONEL J. GOTTSCHALK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,236,475 Pierce Aug. 14, 1917 2,158,749 Elliott May 16, 1939 2,244,231 Armbruster June 3, 1941 2,353,061 Oldenboom July 4, 1944 

